Born in Shanghai, Yung grew up in Hong Kong and at age 17 went to the United States where he spent his next 18 years of his life. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley and Master’s degree in Urban Design from Columbia University.

Yung is an experimental arts pioneer and the most influential artist in Hong Kong and neighboring regions. Soon after returning from New York in the 1970s, Yung held his first one-man cartoon exhibition at the Hong Kong Arts Centre. On the day the exhibition opened, he presented his first structuralism theater work Broken Record #1. From late 1980 to early 1981, over a period of three months, he did his first performance series, Journey to the East (in four parts) at the Hong Kong Arts Centre. In 1981, he was commissioned by the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre to co-direct (with Gus Wong) a play, The Road, at the Hong Kong City Hall. In 1982, he went to San Francisco to co-produce Wayne Wang’s feature film Dim Sum. In the same year, he founded an art collective Zuni Icosahedron whose productions are now recognized as the epitome of experimental theater. Zuni Icosahedron is financially supported by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

As the founding artistic director of Zuni Icosahedron, Yung has contributed significantly to the provision of a platform for acclaimed masters and budding artists to explore and practice theater art in Hong Kong as well as across Europe, Asia and the United States. Yung has had tremendous influence upon the theater and cultural scene of Hong Kong ever since.

荣念曾出生于上海，在香港长大。他从17岁起移居到美国，居住了18年，并完成加州大学伯克莱分校建筑学士学位和哥伦比亚大学城市设计硕士学位。荣氏除了是一个实验艺术的先驱，他还是一个在香港和邻近地区最具影响力的艺术家。20世纪 70年代从纽约回国后不久，他在香港艺术中心举行了个人首次漫画展览。画展揭幕那天，他提出了他第一个结构主义戏剧性作品Broken Record #1。在1980年底起到1981年初的3个月期间，他在香港艺术中心首次演出合共四个部分的《西游记》。1981年，他受香港话剧团委托，与Gus Wong合作执导在香港大会堂剧院举行的话剧《上路》。1982年，他前往美国旧金山与Wayne Wang联合监制小品电影《点心》。同年，他创立了进念二十面体这个剧团，其作品被公认为实验剧场的缩影，而进念二十面体的营运更是获得香港特别行政区的财务支持。

作为进念二十面体的创始艺术总监，荣氏为知名大师和新晋艺术家提供一个平台，让他们在香港以及整个欧洲、亚洲和美国探索和实践剧场艺术。荣氏为香港剧场和文化氛围造就了巨大的变化和深远的影响。